1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fabric printing device for printing a desired image onto a fabric installed on the supporting face of a supporting section, by emitting ink.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a fabric printing device of this kind, unlike printing onto paper, or the like, it is difficult to fix a fabric onto the upper face of the platen or other supporting section on which the fabric is installed. In other words, in the case of fabric, creases caused by wrinkles in the surface are liable to occur, and the flatness of the fabric is liable to be impaired. If the fabric cannot be held flat on the platen, then the accuracy of printing by emitting ink will decline, and depending on the circumstances, situations may occur in which the ink emission heads actually make contact with the fabric.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-198970, for example, discloses an ink-jet fabric printing device wherein, in order to hold fabric for fabric printing, a double-sided tape or sheet having adhesive characteristics is attached to an endless metallic belt, and the fabric is fixed on the belt by the adhesive force thereof and conveyed. This adhesive double-sided tape or sheet is formed such that it has strong adhesive properties on the inner side (conveyor belt side) and weak adhesive properties on the outer side (fabric side), and one end thereof is stuck on the other end thereof to be formed into a ring-shape. The fabric is fixed to the conveyor belt via the adhesive sheet, by means of separately provided attachment rollers, and a configuration is achieved which ensures that the fabric is flat when printing is carried out. Moreover, if the adhesive force of the double-sided adhesive sheet declines, then it can be changed for another one.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. (Hei)6-220781 discloses a method for an ink-jet printing device in which a double-sided adhesive sheet (adhesive film) is attached to an endless metallic belt, and fabric is adhered to this double-sided adhesive sheet and conveyed. If the adhesive force of the double-sided adhesive sheet declines, then the sheet is peeled off, and a new double-sided adhesive sheet is attached to the conveyor belt by being drawn out from an adjacently positioned roll.
However, in the device and method described in both Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2000-198970 and (Hei)6-220781, an adhesive sheet is stuck onto a belt, and a fabric is conveyed by being fixed by the adhesive force of this sheet. Therefore, in a fabric printing device wherein fabric is installed on a platen, if a configuration is adopted whereby the fabric is installed on an adhesive sheet of this kind, the following problems will occur.
In other words, in a configuration for holding fabric by means of adhesive force, if creases occur due to wrinkles in the fabric, then it will be necessary to peel off the fabric from one end thereof, against the adhesive force, and reinstall the fabric carefully on the platen in such a manner that no wrinkles are formed. Therefore, a problem arises in that the tasks of installing the fabric and aligning it in position become very difficult indeed. Moreover, when eliminating wrinkles in the fabric, or when removing the fabric after printing, the fabric is peeled off against the adhesive force, and therefore a problem arises in that pilling of the fabric, and the like, is liable to occur.
Furthermore, if an adhesive sheet is provided on the surface of the platen, dust or threads from the fabric, or the like, are liable to attach themselves to the adhesive sheet, and hence it becomes necessary to clean the surface of the platen at frequent intervals, or to replace the adhesive sheet at frequent intervals. Therefore, problems arise in that costs increase, and maintainability declines.